Paracelsus

The film is set in the Renaissance. At its centre is the physician known as Paracelsus. The man’s actual name is very long. He is Swiss and he works at alchemy as well. He comes to the city of Basel. There he begins lecturing at the university. He gives his lectures in German rather than Latin. That troubles the leading men of the city. The physicians also object to his methods. The wealthy merchant Pfefferkorn is on the opposing side. Then the danger of plague reaches the city. Paracelsus wants the gates closed. That decision stops the merchants’ business. When he cures the merchant’s daughter attitudes change. Werner Krauss and Mathias Wieman take the leads in G.W. Pabst’s German film of 1943.